Recent Industry Developments and Drivers Towards Food Traceability to improve Food Safety
The H.R.2749 Food Safety Enhancement Act passed earlier this year in the house, has provisions governing food safety & mandates that companies in the Food Industry maintain the full pedigree of the origin and the previous distribution history of the food. Any Traceability System that a CPG Manufacturer or Food Retailer would thus establish will need to maintain this information and also the lot number which is indeed a huge burden.
In Parallel there is an ongoing industry-led effort called the Produce Traceability Initiative sponsored by the PMA, Unites Fresh Produce Association & the Canadian Produce Marketing Association to help the industry to maximize the effectiveness of traceability procedures while developing a standardized approach to enhance the efficiency of traceability systems for the future. The current action plan proposes that every case in the produce supply chain will be have electronic traceability via encoding the GTIN & lot number on the bar code which will be based on GS1 Databar standards.
These developments and concerted efforts are a result of the multiple product recalls the produce and meat industry has seen because of food contamination and because of the inability to effectively and efficently trace it to the right source and quickly identify what lots to exactly recall - leaving behind concerns regarding food safety
I personally believe whatever be the final H.R.2749 mandate/regulation, for a traceability system to be truly interoperable it needs to be based on the foundation like the GS1 Databar standards. Information like origin and previous distribution history needs to be maintained and propagated throughout the supply chain. While today there is no business case for a Grocery Retailer or a CPG manufacturer to build in comprehensive traceability capabilities as part of their supply chain systems, the H.R.2749 can certainly accelerate ongoing industry-led efforts like the Produce Traceability Initiative.
What are your thoughts on Food Safety and Food Traceability ? How do you see the industry evolving on this front ? Its obvious Grocers do not want expensive Product recalls. I would be happy to hear your views on this.
